Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
The Roseto Mystery.
In Roseto, virtually no one under fifty-five had died of a heart attack or showed any signs of heart disease.
The secret wasn't diet or exercise or genes or location. It lies in the life style they are having, a powerful, protective social structure capable of insulating them from the pressures of the modern world.
Rosetans visited one another, stopping to chat in italian on the screet, say, or cooking for one another in their backyards. They learned about the extended family clans that underlay the town's social structure. They say how many homes had three generations living under one roof, and how much respect grandparents commanded.
The culture he or she was a part of, and who their friends and families were, and what town their families came from, contribute to their health. It is worth appreciated the idea that the values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.
